truly wanted to test how long it would take for police to respond to a terrorist threat. nice w to do that with your 16-year-old nephew? give me a break. bill: it will be halloween soon. make a great day. a lot of news to talk about throughout the day as we just witnessed. martha: thanks for being with us everybody. "happening now" starts right now. >> thank you, bill and martha. we have breaking news on the attack in benghazi and the murder of our ambassador at the consulate there. our very own bret baier reporting on day one, day one, our intel officials knew it was a terrorist attack and characterized it that day. firms reportedly focused on what they believed to be an al qaeda he willment. they even focused on one specific person yet to be named. so internally this deadly attack has been labeled a terrorist attack. as you know how it is characterized publicly depends who you talk to. more on this developing story in just a moment. but first right now some

brand new stories and breaking news. jon: zeroing in the on the swing states. dueling campaign events in the same political battleground of virginia. governor romney and president obama both expected to speak there shortly. plus the obama administration insists sanctions are working to keep iran's nuclear ambitions in check. others have serious doubts. what happens if the doubters are right? in the race for the white house do the polls paint a fair picture? is there media bias? our "news watch" panel weighs in. all new, all live is "happening now." jon: welcoming jenna lee back from italy. i have hope you had a good --. jenna: our friends maya and pat had an amazing wedding. congratulations to them. back to work today. jon: big day on the campaign trail for the candidates

today. we have every angle covered. touchdown tore football fans. i'm jon scott. jenna: i'm jenna lee. first the headline today is that the strike is over. the nfl and the referees union reaching what some are describing as a tentative labor agreement. we'll see if it sticks. this after one of the most tumultuous starts to any starting professional sports season we've seen in recent history. the new agreement puts the pro refs back in their uniforms in time for tonight's game. after a series of blown calls by replacement refs capped by what happened on monday night with a ruling that cost the green bay packers a victory. this raises questions about the nfl frirts and -- priorities and integrity of the america's most popular sport. now the league hope to put the doubts to rest. >> it restores the credibility. it also brings back the guys that get the job done at very high level. these geese are good. they're used to nfl speed

and the integrity of the game is back. jenna: rec leventhal in the new york city newsroom. not only great reporter but a football fan at that. what is the latest? >> reporter: there were owners holding out because nfl ratings were still strong. the call that changed the game at the end on monday night. a lot of credit goes to commissioner roger goodell who is one of sport's biggest fans personally joined negotiations 17 hours on tuesday and 15 hours yesterday after the bad call heard round the world in seattle when one replacement ref signaled interception and one signaled touch down. this new deal runs eight years, the longest ever for the refs with pension and retirement benefits from last year's average of 149,000 to $173,000 next year. rising to an average of $205,000 in 2019. commissioner roger goodell says quote, we look forward

to having the finest officials in sports back on the field and i want to give a special thanks to nfl fans for their passion. now it is time to put focus back on the teams and players where it belongs. this deal expected to be ratified friday and saturday in dallas by the referee union but regular crews will be on the field tonight for the game between the ravens and browns. t.j. lang, one of many players celebrating the on twitter. good to see regular refs coming back. i'm sure the scabs disappointed they have to return to their jobs at foot locker. ouch. retired oj anderson said everyone cool now? this may not be last you will see of some replacement refs. they tell me some could be part of a training and development program and could call games in the future. jenna: you're nicer on twitter than some of the fans. we'll see what they do tonight. see if they make the right calls. >> reporter: wait for the

standing ovation and boo birds come out when the first flag is called. jenna: rick, thank you. >> reporter: sure. jon: we're awaiting dueling speeches today from republican presidential nominee mitt romney and president obama. both candidates campaigning across the battleground state of virginia. governor romney in springfield, mr. obama in virginia beach. it is the third time in a week they are both hitting the same stage. shane deapril is the editor of campaigns and elections magazine. democrats are pretty confident about virginia this time. should they be, shane? >> we've seen some dueling polls out of virginia. there are some that show the president with a clear lead. some show the contest quite a bit tighter. but i think what you're seeing with amount of time both campaigns are spending in virginia it is such a key state when it comes to the electoral college calculation for both campaigns. essentially in my sort of electoral college predictor i have president obama at 237 electoral votes right now. so that means the three

really big swing states, ohio, virginia, and florida, they could be really killers for mitt romney if he can't find a way to wrestle two of those away from president obama. if the president manages to get florida and virginia in his column, he is over the top of 270 electoral votes. if he manages to get virginia and ohio, he is just two electoral votes shy. so in the electoral college map virginia is enormous and you're seeing that with the amount of money both campaigns are spending there and the amount of time both candidates are putting in. jon: looking at "real clear politics" average of the polls taken last week, president obama leads 4.6 to 45.1 in virginia. that leaves about 6% undecided. where do those undecideds go? >> yeah, this is the real key question because all of this, particularly in virginia will hinge on turnout. northern virginia has seen a

population explosion. demographics which dictate there is advantage for democrats undoubtedly in that part of the state. the question then is for the obama campaign how do you get those voters out? can you get those voters out at the same level you did in 2008 when democrats were successful turning virginia blue for first time since 1964. so turnout will be a huge question. not only for president obama in the northern part of the state but also for mitt romney because he's got to pump upturnout in some of the more republican leaning areas of the state. so that's why again why you see the time being spent there. that's why you see the ground game and field efforts of both campaigns up and down across the state. jon: last question and we'll be talking about this later in another segment but it's about the polls. a lot of republicans are claiming that the polls are skewed to the democrats and that has a tendency to dampen republican enthusiasm to go vote if they think their candidate is going to lose in a blowout.

but conversely might it also damage democratic hopes because they say, it is a cakewalk for president obama. he didn't need my vote? >> well there's a little bit of democratic concern about that over the past couple of days. a lot of democratic strategists have gone out of their way to point out, listen, let's not get overconfident. don't let your voters get overcost when they're seeing polls that show an obama margin of close to nine points in a state like florida or eight points in ohio. there is some concern about that. there is, that concern cuts both ways. because, there's an incentive there it, you know, make your voters sort of know and understand the importance of race and the closer the polls are, the tighter that race is, the more you can easily communicate that to folks who you need to get out to the polls on november 6. jon: well the poll that matters taken less than six weeks from now. shane deapril, campaigns and elections magazine. thank you. >> thank you, jon. jenna: for some time al qaeda in the islamic

maghreb and launched kidnapping into neighboring countries. now with a larger safe haven and increased freedom to maneuver, terrorists are seeking to extend their reach and networks in multiple directions. and they are working with other violent extreme i'ves to undermind the democratic transitions you know way in north africa as we tragically saw in benghazi. jenna: secretary of state hillary clinton now suggesting al qaeda was involved in the deadly attack on the u.s. consulate in libya. and as we told you moments ago we're now learning that u.s. intelligence has labeled this assault an act of terrorism and did so very early on. however the president has yet to publicly refer to it as a terror attack. something he is facing some criticism for. >> i'm sure there's some of that motivation to just keep everything as it is until after november 4th. but the thing really scary about it is, that the people in the region believe the

united states is weak and withdrawing and you do that, you leave a power vacuum. jenna: joining us now, -- kt mcfarland, fox security analyst. you worked inside a variety of administration as part of the defense department. what do you think is going on here? >> initially, jenna, i thought, okay they don't want to be accused after mission accomplished moment. president said we won the war or terror. bin laden is dead and now he is campaigning. if it looks like there was terrorist attack or maybe al qaeda affiliation they don't want to say that so they really didn't want to have that mission accomplished banner behind them going into an election. now if what we just uncovered here at fox news with bret baier, if the administration knew on day one it was not only a terrorist attack but it was an al qaeda attack, if they knew before day one because there was a defense department public report saying al qaeda in libya, a profile, what did they know and when did they know it?

i worked in the white house during water gaet -- watergate, the steady constant drip, drip, drip, the story changed every day. in the end it was a cover-up. i would like to know if the administration is covering something up? did they know in advance? why didn't they protect the ambassador? why have they been so reluctant talk about what it really is, what everybody understands it is which is a terrorist attack? jenna: let's go to the word choice. hillary clinton say violent ex-ist. attack by violent extremist versus attack by terrorist what is is the significance of word choice? >> i don't think they want to use the word al qaeda if they use the word al qaeda how do you make the claim al qaeda is finished, once we got bin laden, once we left iraq, once we won the libyan war, we are done, done deal. sound like al qaeda is not only finished but making a comeback. jenna, hear is the thing an attack on united states embassy overseas is

considered like an attack on the united states homeland. when they can go into an american embassy and assassinate four american diplomats including the ambassador, that is the equivalent ever international law of coming to washington, d.c. and attacking the state department. an embassy ground are considered american terrortory. for example, if a pregnant woman walks into american embassy anywhere in the world and gives birth that child is an american citizen. we consider that an american territory. the fact we were attacked on september 11th, 11 years later is the same argument that people have been making all along, that al qaeda isn't dead. it has found a new home. it is taking advantage of the arab uprisings and found a whole new life in the middle east. jenna: so, kt, one of the things that the press secretary jay carney said over the past two weeks as things evolved, the administration he says provided as much information as it has been able to do. we learn from bret baier and his reporting as of right now there hasn't been a single fbi agent on the

ground in benghazi. we're all looking toward that investigation because that's what we're told from the administration will provide more answers, the fbi investigation, if no one is on the ground what are we to make of that? >> i think you make a couple of things. why is anybody not on the ground? is it too dangerous for the fbi to go there? secondly if the administration says, hold your horses wait until we got full investigation and we find out there is no investigation, again, it is that drip, drip, drip. what did they know? when did they know it? why are they trying to cover it up and what is going on? it wasn't so unsafe in benghazi a cnn reporter went there several days ago and got the ambassador's personal diary. maybe somebody is there but not the united states fbi. jenna: we'll watch the continuing to develop story. kt, thanks for your insights. well have much more on the controversy over the attack on the u.s. consulate in libya. top senators on the senate foreign relations committee are calling on secretary

clinton to talk about cables. we'll talk to bob corker of tennessee. he will talk more about that with jon in a few moments. jon: looking forward to that. new questions on the accuracy of presidential polls after charges that some surveys oversampled democrats. can the polls be trusted?

jon: new calls for the u.s. state department to turn over key diplomatic cables from the days leading up to the deadly attack on our consulate in libya including communications from ambassador stevens reportedly expressed concern about deteriorating security in benghazi. senator bob corker is one lawmaker that doesn't want to wait for results of an internal investigation. he wants to see the cables right away. he is our guest now. senator, have you received a response from the state departments yet? >> we have not.

senator isakson and i two days ago sent the letter. obviously the cables are easy to come forward hopefully this will happen soon. this is turning not something short of benghazi-gate. i wish you were at the briefing that took place. it was the most senseless, worthless briefing i ever attended. at this juncture we have four americans killed. one was widely known and highly respected individual. the media knows more about what happened than we do and we want answers. senator demint and i introduced a bill two weeks ago to get to the bottom of this. it was blocked. i will say this is now turned into a very bipartisan concern. it is my understanding today that all members of the foreign relations committee both democrats and republicans are asking the administration for answers. so this is now something that certainly could never be colored as partisan. these are concerned senators and house members who want

to see, want to know what's happened and for some reason this administration is not coming forth. i want to say one other thing. secretary clinton, while there have been political difference, no question, one of the things that i think most people have appreciated about her has been her transparency. and something is wrong here. this is not the way this, this is something is up here. and in that we are not getting the, just the basic information that i think most americans would want us to have. jon: you said that in some ways the media seems to know more about what's going on here than the government. we know that cnn had a reporter producer who found the ambassador's diary and made elements of that public and ambassador stevens reportedly in his private diaries according to cnn was expressing concern over his safety. one of the reasons you want these cables because you want to find out whether he expressed those concerns to his superiors at state? >> that's exactly right.

that's the purpose behind senator isakson and my request. that is something that ought to be easily forthcoming. you know, jon, we sit in all kinds of classified and security briefing. we have access to all kinds of information constantly that affect our country in big ways. when four americans have been killed, and we can not even find out what the communications were between that person, and the state department here, or in washington, something's wrong. and i really do think as i have watched the response from this administration, there has to be something that they're trying to hide or cover up and again we just want answers. again as i mentioned both democrats and republicans want answers to what has happened. jon: is that why, well, you're not, are you suspicious i guess is the question of the consistency -- >> i'm on the foreign relations committee. i've worked with this

administration. i have become very suspicious and this is just not the norm. this is way out of the norm what is happening in this case and that's why to me the window has closed. i think, you know, the responses have been, you know, been varying degrees of what's happened. we have not been told clearly what has happened. i think the window is closed. and now, this is turning into something not short of benghazi-gate. what is going on here? why are we not being told what has happened to these four americans? jon: we're three weeks into it right now and still don't have fbi agents on the ground to investigate the embassy or the consulate as i understand it. we hope you get ends as to your letter. senator bob corker of tennessee thanks for joining us. >> thank you. jenna: more on that story certainly as we get it. some powerful words there from the senator. meantime you probably remember this story. 50 people died when their tour bus crashed into a guardrail on a new york highway.

today the trial starts for the man behind the wheel. we'll have the latest on that. also as tensions increase in the middle east over iran's nuclear program israel's prime minister is getting ready to make his case against iran to the world today. want to try to crack it? yeah, that's the way to do it! now we need a little bit more... a little bit more vanilla? this is great! [ male announcer ] at humana, we believe there's never been a better time to share your passions... because the results... are you having fun doing this? yeah. that's a very nice cake! [ male announcer ] well, you can't beat them. [ giggles ] ohh! you got something huh? whoa... [ male announcer ] humana understands the value of spending time together that's a lot of work getting that one in! let's go see the birdies. [ male announcer ] one on one, sharing what you know. let's do it grandpa. that's why humana agents will sit down with you, to listen and understand what's important to you. it's how we help you choose the right humana medicare plan for you. because when your medicare is taken care of,

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jon: right now a former tour bus driver is set to go on trial for the deaths of 15 passengers. the driver faces manslaughter charges after his tour bus veered off i-95 in new york, slammed into a support post for a roadway sign, and flipped over. rick folbaum is watching these developments in our newsroom. rick? >> reporter: jon, this was an awful crash. a bus full of people heading home after a night of casino gambling. that bus was going about 78 miles an hour, way over the speed limit which was 50. when it ran off the highway

and skidded along that guard rail. then it flipped on to its side hitting a poll as you might have seen in that picture, completely sheered the top of the bus off like a can of sardines. 15 people were killed. in this june, this past june, the ntsb said driver fatigue was knows likely the cause. as you said today the driver's criminal trial begins. williams charged with manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide. prosecutors say he was sleep deprived but drove the bus anyway. williams originally told investigators a tractor-trailer cut him off leading to the accident. there was no evidence found to support that story. his lawyer says williams is filled with guilt over what happened but he is not guilty of any crimes. since the crash, it 6 different tour bus companies on the east coast have been shut down for safety violations. we'll follow the trial and keep you posts, jon. jon: rick folbaum in the newsroom. very sad story. thank you for the update.

jenna: right now israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu is preparing to address the u.n. assembly a short time from now. he is expected to make his case against iran. netanyahu remarks come as speculation grows in the jewish state whether sanctions against iran are working fast enough to change iran's nuclear path. listen to secretary of state hillary clinton and what she said back in july. >> we know the sanctions are biting. united states and israel agree on that. and we talked about concrete steps we can take to continue to build the pressure. jenna: this has been the opinion of the obama administration and it continues to beat the drum that sanctions are working, that they are creating a change inside iran. is that correct? we have the executive director of the foundation for defense of democracies. mark, nice to have you back on the program. >> thanks for for having me, jenna. jenna: mark you're finishing up a study i can looking at time lines, time lines for the nuclear program for inside iran and time lines when these sanctions are really, really going to affect change inside the

country. what did you find? >> well, jenna, what we're looking at we're looking at the economic cripple date when iran faces an imminent economic collapse and we're looking at the nuclear threshold date when iran has the capability and everything in place to build a nuclear weapon if it decides to break out or more likely sneak out. it is important which cops first. if the irrainsians will have nuclear capability which gives them turn after screw away from having a nuclear happen and that happens long before they face imminent economic collapse we have a serious problem with sanctions and efficacy of sanctions. jenna: what does it look like right now? >> we'll do the analysis and we'll have the complete economic model in the next few days but my hunch is the economic cripple date occurs long after the nuclear threshold date. that has serious implications for u.s. and israeli policy. it means we either have to significantly ratchet up the sanctions and precipitate a major economic collapse in iran or we have to acknowledge sanctions are not working and we'll have to turn to the prospect of

military strikes to destroyer ran's nuclear weapons program. jenna: consider yourself booked when the study and all the results come out and analysis. that is something we're following closely here on "happening now." what do you think the prime minister of israel is going to say today? when it comes to the sanctions it seems that israel, officials from the israel and the united states continue to be together as far as saying hey, they're working, they're having some sort of effect but what do you expect the prime minister to say beyond that? >> well i expect the prime minister to say that sanctions are working in the sense they are placing severe pressure on the iranian economy but they have not worked for the objective they were designed which is to stop the iranian nuclear weapons program and change the risk/reward call cue laws of the iranian leader khomeni. he will make it very clear, that iranians have five bombs worth of low-enriched uranium which takes them 70% away from nuclear

enriched-uranium. they're looking to increase that 20% which would take them 90% away from having a bomb and burying their uranium facilities deep below a hardened bunker underneath a mountain. very soon the israelis will have very limited military options to strike that. and u.s. may have a limited military option sometime soon. so i think the prime minister is going to say, look the time to stop talking about sanctions is now. the time to start talking about making it very clear to the iranian regime their weapons-grade uranium will be destroyed in the military strike if they don't compromise is upon us. jenna: we just saw a pick you are it of the prime minister benjamin netanyahu. i want to point it out to our audience it was him on the plane supposedly writing his speech and what he will say to the u.n. today. mark, we continue to enjoy your conversations. we look forward to having you back on our program. >> thanks very much, jenna. thanks for having me. jon: we're gearing up for dueling news conferences awaiting both president obama and governor romney this hour. they are making remarks in the battleground state of

virginia. you can see the podiums are ready, the microphones hot. just waiting for the candidates. we'll have them, "happening now." ♪ want my recipe for healthier hair color? natural instincts! formulated with aloe, vitamin and antioxidants natural instincts has a system that's a healthier way to radiant color. indulge... with natural instincts. less guilt, more gorgeous.

jenna: we certainly talk a lot about independent voters. both presidential candidates are trying to win over this key group. a recent survey shows partisan voter registration

is taking a dive, especially in key battleground states. eight battleground states in fact. the numbers for registration among independents is up however. doug mckelway is live from washington with more on this story. doug? >> reporter: jenna, this is a bit of a wild guard in the november 6th elections. difficult to say exactly how it will play out but voter registration is down across the board from many swing states in 2008. take for example, in ohio where voter registration is down by 490,000 people, almost half a million. once more, 44% of that reduction is in cuyahoga county, that is cleveland and surrounding areas that is heavily democratic area. in 2008, 68.5% of the registered were democrats. 30.44% were republican. voter registration is down especially for democrats in many other states. according to an august study done by left-leaning think-tank, third way, democrats and republicans,

in colorado, democrats are up 3 points. up five points for republicans but up 12 points for independents. in florida, down almost five percentage points for democrats but up for republicans by half a point. up eight points for independents. in iowa down nine points for democrats up six points for republicans. down minus three for independents. it goes on and on. one ohio democratic activist suggested these numbers reflect some attempt at voter suppression, an accusation that the republican ohio secretary of state categorically rejects. >> well, that is kind of a silly notion that removing deceased people and duplicates records from the rolls has anything to do with voter suppression. it has to do with voter integrity. they can't point to one legally registered voter that has been removed from the rolls. >> reporter: what that third way study shows that the number of people who identify themselves as independents has indeed gone way up. so the key question is, which way are those

independents leaning? recent polls in many swing states suggest that they're beginning to lean democratic. one democratic pollster i spoke with this week told me has even seen evidence that in ohio focus groups that independents are disgusted with both political parties but in that state, one out of every eight jobs related to auto industry, president obama's ad blitz that he saved the auto industry no matter its factual merit seems to be resonating among independents but i have had republicans tell me just the opposite, that republicans are going way up in many registration drives and that the obama campaign is just not seeing the results it saw in 2008. so both sides definitely spinning this registration story, jenna. jenna: shocking that they don't agree on it, doug. >> reporter: shocking indeed. jenna: 'tis the season. doug mckelway from d.c. doug, thank you. jon: do the presidential polls printed in the mainstream media provide an accurate picture of the american electorate?

that is a big question right now. after republican claims that some surveys oversample democrats. a trend, some suggest gives president obama an enover governor romney come november in republican voters don't think they can close the gap. let's talk about it with kirsten powers, columnist for "the daily beast". all with us judith miller, pulitizer prize winning author. both are fox news contributors. when you look at some of these polls, you know, president obama leads nationally in some of them by eight, 9%. republicans claim that the pollsters, kirsten are oversampling democrats. >> well, in some polls they do oversample democrats and some polls they oversample republicans. nate silver actually has done a great job at outlining which of the polls do this. people might be surprised that some mainstream polls like "washington post" abc poll oversamples republicans. "quinnipiac university poll" oversamples republicans.

look at "real clear politics" average and that gives you a better sense which has obama up about four. even if you take claims at face value, jon, if he is up by eight or 11 points in any of these polls, even if you were to take out the possibility of oversampling, which i don't think is happening and i could explain that later, necessarily, the, he is still up by so much even if they were oversampling he is still ahead. he is still ahead by four or five points. it will not benefit the republicans to pretend this is just all the pollsters helping obama. jon: well, judy, the one of the points republicans like to make that there was a 7 percentage point advantage among democratic voters who turned out in 2008. so if the pollsters use that model, if they weight all of their polls by democrats plus seven, those were the numbers, four years ago, they're saying it is not

accurate because you're not going to get the same kind of democratic enthusiasm and democratic turnout in 2012 that you had in 2008 when barack obama was a new, unknown and very exciting contender. >> well that is the key question and that does account for oversampling democrats or undersampling republicans in some of these polls. but as kirsten said, you repeatedly show obama at the moment with a distinct lead, especially, in those states that are all important enough and up for grabs. i think it is really important to, to not to announce or not to assume that this election is over. i mean even though early voting has started in more than 20 states we really haven't even had our first look, close-up look at the candidates vis-a-vis one another. we are, haven't even had a first debate yet. i think many things will affect turnout, not only the extent to which the debates

form opinions, but the extent to which people think they can make a difference. so if one side is overconfident, and thinks that this is going to be a blowout, democrats may not show up. and if republicans think all is lost, they may not show up. so i think the psychological attitude towards what to expect in november is really, very, very important and we can't assume that this race is over. jon: do those things cancel each other out, kirsten? you've worked in political campaigns and one side thinks all is lost and the other one thinks it will ablow out for my guy, do they cancel each other out? >> i don't know if they cancel each out out they definitely have an impact. just to go back to these polls, one thing people need to understand, this is really important i think republicans are in pretty serious denial what is going on. if they want to look at really objectively, they're right about the claim about 2008 but what they're missing is that these polls are not asking people how are you registered. they're asking you who do you identify with which is a

different question. what typically happens is independents will often say, that they identify with the party they're going to vote for. so if you were to go back and look at 2008 you start noticing more people saying they're democrats. if you go back to 2010 when the republicans won you start to see more people were saying they were republicans. this suggests that independents are probably starting to move slightly towards obama. if republicans want to stay in denial about that and blame the liberal media they're welcome to do it but they're not doing themselves any favors. jon: doug schoen, a frequent guest here on fox and a long time democratic pollster said we ought to pay less of attention to the poll and more attention to big issues facing this country. >> that is easy for a pollster to say. jon: judy miller, kirsten powers, thank you both. >> thank you. jenna: more than 35 years after jimmy hoffa disappeared a brand new search for the teamster's body. where police are now looking and what sparked this whole search. we're live with that story just ahead. plus college debt is

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we're working to fuel america for generations to come. today, our commitment to the gulf, and to america, has never been stronger. jenna: new information on our economy and on student debt as it skyrockets to a brand new record. nearly one in five households in this country now dealing with college debt. that is up 15% from five years ago. charles payne with the fox business network is joining us. an economic whiz as we know it but also a father. charles, you know how to deal with this up close and personal, right, with your son nearing college age. what does it mean for the economy overall not just the households when one in five families are carrying this debt when it comes to education? >> you know, jenna, here's the thing. it means that this is a sort of a, this is a household family decision that means enormous sacrifice for the entire family. during the same time period one of the things we've seen overall household debt come down like a trillion dollars. a lot of that is just the

fact that some people lost their homes and things like that. but even credit cards, people aren't using credit cards to the degree that they used to but they have no way to get around this. so this is a major decision and now you're seeing all kinds of articles out there saying is it worth it? is college worth it if you will carry this sort of debt? let's not forget the occupy movement when it started at least the main gripe was about college tuition and enormous debt. it is important issue. an important topic. i think college obviously is still worth it and i think numbers continue to bear that out but these are some heavy debts. jenna: certainly is. what about the cost of college overall, charles? we hear, you know, different politicians talk about bringing costs down. how do you actually do that? is that, is that something that the government can force the price of school to come down so there's not as much debt out there? >> i think the government can certainly use the bully pulpit. if you can use the bullpy pulpit to tell the medical industry your charging too much money, insurance

industry you're charging too much money, wall street you're charging too much money certainly we can do that with colleges. from 1985 to now, the college tuition is up 500%. inflation is up 100%. think about that, 500%. that is gouging. why are these guys allowed to do that? why don't they get any rebuke against this if if they train our future generations where is the skin in the game? where is the sacrifice that every other entity or institute in this country is going through? jenna: you're wondering if you're getting 500% better value for your money. >> beautiful campuses with shiny buildings, your professor, meet him every couple years that might be not. you're not getting 500% more value. jenna: if you have a college education you're not as affected by the economy. you're more likely to be employed. one of the things this pew research center study found, really comes to college debt falling on the young obviously going to college, the majority and also the poor. >> right. jenna: is this part of the

problem, charles, if you will, between the schism between the have and have-nots? >> it is part of the skiz i am and how the have-nots become the haves. you can be frustrated and drop out and stay in mommy's baste basement there are met thor of things. get on food stamps or go on welfare. every generation has to suck it up and every generation has inflection point and change the trend and within our own series of kids and grandkids. jenna: sure. >> to your point, college grads have unemployment rate 4.1%. employment for that population is 70%. less than high school, unemployment is 12% and only 40% of jobs out there anyway. the decision is clear. you have to suck it up, entire family. somehow i believe we need to put more pressure on colleges. it is outrage just they can operate with impunity and charge us to the degree they charged us. that is not fair.

jenna: excellent points for us today. charles. >> nice seeing you as usual. jon: with two kids in college --. jenna: you know this. i could have interviewed you for this segment talk about the loans and all of that. hits you close and personal right? jon: college inflation, a big deal. whodunit for the ages. lable labor union leader jimmy hoffa mysteriously disappeared 40 years ago. now investigators are once again looking for his body. we'll tell you where they're focusing on this search. this man got on a presidential ballot as a third party candidate in a toss-up state and one presidential campaign not happy about it. could he play the spoiler in a crucial political battleground?

jon: his disappearance way

back in 19p5 triggered countless conspiracy theories and high-profile searches and now there is new information where the fbi is about to start looking again for the body of jimmy hoffa. rick folbaum has that for us. >> reporter: he wasn't in the end zone ever the old giants stadium or gm building. jimmy hoffa has been rumored to be buried so many places you have to take these reports with a grain of salt of they are taking samples in backyard after house in roseville, michigan, after getting a tip from a man on his deathbed that hoffa could be buried there. the former teamsters union boss went missing after a meeting with two mobsters back in 1975. over the years investigators followed up on a number of leads, none of them panning out but apparently this one could have promise. a radar test showed something buried under a slab of cement on the

property in question. so more tests tomorrow, the soil tests and then who knows, maybe soon the mystery whatever happened to jimmy hoffa could be solved. we'll keep you posted. jon: that sound good. rick folbaum, thank you. jenna: right now a third party presidential candidate is on the ballot of his home state in virginia and reportedly the romney campaign is furious about all of this. shannon bream live in washington with more. shannon? >> virgil goode is former six-term u.s. congressman well-known across virginia, once a democrat, independent, republican and now running as constitution party nominee. he is on ballots in two dozen states but virginia where he could have the most impact. "fox news" polling show 4% of likely voters in the commonwealth plan to vote for the president. 42% for romney. 2% will vote for goode, with plus or mine minus error of three points that could make a difference. republican filed a challenge. state party, it was denied. many public publics are

worried goode could challenge romney at a fair shot in virginia. >> virgil will not win. he is good guy and speaks strongly about the constitution but this is between two people and if people want to see barack obama replaced, they need to vote for mitt romney or they're really wasting their vote. >> that is just flat wrong. we are going to get a lot of votes from old line democrats that would never vote a republican ticket. i talked to one person that runs a business. he is willing to let me put up signs. if i were a republican he would never do that. there is no way he will be for romney but yet he doesn't like obama. >> reporter: we asked virginia democrat congressman jerry connelly what you thought about the goode candidacy. he said, no question, goodwill drain votes away from romney. democrats consider goode being on the ballot a favorable development. we reach you had out to the romney campaign numerous times for comment. they declined. jenna. jenna: interesting factor considering romney and president are both in

virginia today. thank you very much. shannon. >> we're bumping up against high noon here on the east coast and awaiting israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu speech at the u.n. general assembly. he is expected to deliver a stern warning to the u.n. body that iran can not develop nuclear weapons

>> reporter: hi, everybody, rick folbaum, some breaking stories we're working on over the next 60 minutes, live to the u.n. in new york city, that's the crown prince of brunei, but in just a little bit, benjamin netanyahu will sound an alarm bell saying the time is running out to keep iran from becoming a nuclear power. also, both the presidential candidates campaigning today in virginia while both of them are gearing up for the first debate next week in denver, we've got a preview of that. plus, dozens of kids trapped on a school bus surrounded by

live electrical wires. how that scene played out in washington state. all of that and breaking news, the second hour of "happening now" starts right now. jenna: rick mentioned the battle for those swing states moving into virginia. welcome to "happening now," i'm jenna lee. jon: i'm jon scott, and if you've got a sense of déjà vu, you can be forgiven, both presidential candidates hitting the same state on the same day for the third time this week. president obama and governor romney holding dueling campaign events less than 200 miles apart just days before their first big debate. john roberts is live in springfield, virginia. how's it looking there, john? >> reporter: hey, good afternoon, jon. i'm go up a little bit up and down because the governor's going on behind us. he's at american legion hall 176 today talking about the potential effects of that looming sequestration and

defense cuts, saying as many as 136,000 jobs just in the state of virginia could be lost and he would not as president allow those cuts to go through. jobs and the economy still remain the number one issue here, both of the candidates trading attacks yesterday on the campaign trail in ohio. president obama hammering governor romney for not coming out with more detail in his economic and tax plans. listen. >> so if they go around as they have in the ohio with, you know, some board behind them with the numbers saying how, you know, it's a moral obligation to reduce the deficit, just ask 'em, well, explain us how the numbers work. because they don't. they don't have a deficit reduction plan. they have a deficit expansion plan. [cheers and applause] >> reporter: now, this morning governor romney jumped on those new gdp figures, said it reinforces his charge that this

country cannot afford another four years of president obama and that his five-point plan for the economy and jobs is the right prescription for this country. this is what he said. >> those five things i describe will get america's economy going again, will help people find jobs that need those jobs, will get take-home pay to come up again. this is not a mystery. we know how to do it, america has faced challenges before. when we have strong leaders, when we have people who know how to lead and where to get it -- we can get it done. and i am and we will. >> reporter: governor romney looking more toward the future and what this country would be like under a romney administration, making this as much about a choice as it has been so far about a referendum on the president. jon? jon: we are less than a week away, though, from the first presidential debate. talk about that. >> reporter: yeah, well, you know, the big question is what mitt romney is going to show up at these debates. he had a lot of practice during the primary campaign.

will he be aggressive, will he take it to president obama? that is a question that congressman paul ryan got yesterday at a town hall in fort collins, colorado. a woman stood up and said, look, i was worried about the performance that john mccain put in four years ago against president obama, and she picks up the question from there. >> will he be forceful in those debates and take it to obama? [cheers and applause] >> ma'am, absolutely. one little difference between then and now. president obama has a record. [laughter] and president obama has a record and a string of broken promises. of course he will. >> reporter: congressman ryan -- sorry -- [cheers and applause] pledging that governor romney will take it to the president

next wednesday in denver. no question though, jon, he needs a big move because if you see these polls in the battleground states, he is beginning to lose ground. he needs something big to happen. jon: well, they seem to like the message in the room behind him, is it the vfw hall? >> reporter: yes, it's a legion hall in springfield. jon: legion hall. john roberts, thank you. jenna: the first presidential debate gets underway just six days from now, and the big faceoff comes wednesday in denver. the president will hunker down for three days in henderson, nevada, using the swing state as a base to prepare for the debate. he's going to stay at a posh resort near vegas, visiting the state for the eighth time this year. now, the l.a. times reports he plans at least three debate practice sessions during his stay there as security and preparations for all of that is already underway in denver. transportation planners are

warning of heavy delays and street closures and major highways shutting down in both directions, and folks at the university of denver -- which is hosting the debate -- are getting ready for some of those travel headaches. >> we won't be able to park anywhere right here. >> a lot of students are being kicked out of their apartments or are getting kicked out of their parking spaces right now. >> you have got to go around, it's a real big pain in the butt for students. jenna: that's said frankly, right? pain in the butt. for the first time ever, colorado is playing host to a presidential debate. it's certainly putting a global spotlight on the city of denver and the university. >> i think it's exciting. i think it's a great opportunity for du and for students. >> we hope this is an opportunity for people to learn more about us and for the university of denver to tell its story to the world. jenna: catch the debate followed by full analysis right here on your fox news channel, the debate gets underway 9 p.m. eastern time. jon: my first job was at the

university of denver. jenna: and what was your first job? jon: i was on the lawn mowing crew at age 15. jenna: you've come a long way, jon. although i bet you mow a beautiful lawn. jon: i do. [laughter] president obama appearing on "the view," yet passing up a chance to meet with world leaders at the united nations. our next guest says it makes the president look like he thinks he's doing such a good job and so certain he'll win the election that he's phoning it in. writing, quote: with one week to the first critical debate and five weeks until the election, president obama is so confident of victory, he no longer feels compelled to show up at work and do his job. ab stoddard is the person who wrote that, also an associate editor of "the hill." he's phoning it in, ab? >> he is this week. i mean, i really think you look at the fact that he was on letterman and "the view" and the u.n. general assembly is

gathering at a time of great crises in many different places but especially in the region of the middle east, many, many countries there. we just had this tragic attack in libya which the administration is now calling an act of terror after much hemming and hawing and back and forthing, and there's serious questions being raised about, obviously, iran, and the president decided that he would not -- like last year when he met with 13 heads of state -- take the chance for one one-on-one meetings. he would have been better served to carry out his commander in chief duties and look like the commander in chief he's proven to the american public that he is. he's very credible on this issue, he has a wide lead on romney on this issue. instead, he chose deliberately to spend the time campaigning, and i just think it was really a failure of leadership, and i think that this is not, um, something that can be blown off.

it's not meeting with your jobs council which may or may not create a new job. these are face-to-face meetings, an essential relationship-building opportunity in a time of crisis, and it's what he's president for. i think it was really shameful that he blew it off. jon: well, you say that he's essentially trying to make, avoid making news, he's trying to avoid, you know, tripping up or slipping up or saying the wrong thing. he just wants to skate now that he's got this lead widening up in the election, in the polls. >> well, as you see, every day is a different news cycle. mitt romney makes news because he's been making mistakes. you have these new swing state polls and the new gallup poll, and so we're watching the election so closely now, there's always a new news story to wash away. they made the calculated decision that if they went into a meeting with any one of these 15 or 20 people that something could happen. one of these presidents or prime

ministers could leave and say something that would be counter to what the president said happened in the meeting or his people. it would become a kerr full that could follow him to the debates. so what they decided was they'll go on "the view" and do these campaign appearances, all in this local radio that he thinks is helping him on the margin in these urban areas in swing states and not risk something becoming news. meanwhile, this is his job. so i think that heading up into the debate they were hoping that the news would stay on the the polls, stay on his lead and stay on the focus of the anticipation of the debates, and that's a decision that may or may not pay off for them politically. but i think it still is a failure to tend to his responsibilities. jon: her article is titled "campaigner in chief." ab stoddard from "the hill" is the author. thank you. >> thank you. jenna: new information on the deadly consulate attack in benghazi that killed four americans including our ambassador to libya.

secretary of state hillary clinton now publicly suggesting for the very first time this was the work of an al-qaeda affiliate terror group. and fox news is learning that u.s. intelligence officials classified the assault as a record attack early on. this while the obama administration was publicly saying that the violence grew out of a spontaneous protest. now, members of congress on both side of the aisle are demanding answers. sorting this out for us, catherine herridge. >> reporter: thank you, jenna. two sources tell fox news within 4 hours of the attack, officials were confident it was a terrorist attack and believe it was the work of an al-qaeda-affiliated operative in that area. the cia director, david petraeus, briefed members of the house intelligence committee three days after the attack. petraeus, like the administration, espoused the view that benghazi was a demonstration prompted by the youtube video that spun out of control.

this was, quote, shocking to some members who pointed towards a terrorist attack. now, two republican senators are pushing the state department to release all communications including cable and e-mails about the security situation in libya leading up to the attack. >> i think, you know, the responses have been, you know, have been varying degrees of what's happened. we have not been told clearly what has happened, and i think the window has closed. and now this is turning into something not short of benghazigate. >> reporter: in addition to already polanding it as terrorism, hillary clinton acknowledged the suspected involvement of al-qaeda's north african affiliate known as aqim. >> they are working with other violent extremists to undermine the democratic transitions underway in north africa as we tragically saw in benghazi. > reporter: as fox was first to support, the evidence supports the view that in this a

group called an starral sharia, not directly affiliated with al-qaeda, but they share the same goal of establishing an islamic state or a caliphate in north africa. jenna: more on this as we get it. thank you. >> reporter: you're welcome. jon: a new poll showing a virtual tie in a battleground state that will help determine who wins the white house, so after millions of dollars spent on tv ads and a steady stream of visits by the candidates, what's going to make the difference in the big, big state of florida? jenna: we'll talk more about that. a live look at the dow as we get some less than encouraging numbers on the health of the economy. more on that in just a moment. i have a cold, and i took nyquil,

but i'm still stubbed up. [ male announcer ] truth is, nyquil doesn't unstuff your nose. what? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus liquid gels speeds relief to your worst cold symptoms plus has a decongestant for your stuffy nose. thanks. that's the cold truth! well, if itmr. margin?margin. don't be modest, bob. you found a better way to pack a bowling ball. that was ups. and who called ups? you did, bob. i just asked a question. it takes a long time to pack a bowling ball. the last guy pitched more ball packers. but you... you consulted ups. you fod a better way. that's logistics. that's margin. find out what else ups knows. i'll do that. you're on a roll. that's funny. i wasn't being funny, bob. i know.

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before the big day, we're taking a look at the battleground state that could decide the race for the white house. we say that about all of them, don't we? today we're going to focus on florida. folks have voted for the winner in seven of the last eight presidential elections, so let's take a look at the sunshine state. as far as electoral votes, you can see that it has 29, it's one of the biggest states as far as electoral votes in our country. if you take a look at the economy as well, that's within within -- been a big issue. the unemployment rate is slightly higher than the national average, and housing, we've talked a lot about the housing market and the housing crash in the state of florida. you can see that it's one in every 328 housing units. for perspective, this means that florida, the state of florida is second in the country when it comes to foreclosure rates. the first, by the way, is the state of illinois which i thought was interesting because we don't talk a lot about illinois when it comes to the housing crisis, but florida number two in the country. when we take a look at the polling today, this is one particular poll from the tampa

bay times and a variety of newspapers in to the state of florida, you can see that it's a very close race. we'll talk about some the other polls as well being that it's such a big state with our guest now, he's george bennett, staff writer for the palm beach coast. one poll that shows very little change when we look at the candidates and what they've done over the last couple months. what's your general sense to which way the state of florida is leaning? >> well, i think it's very close here. um, most of the polls have shown obama up by a few points, but generally within the margin of error, so it's very tight here in florida. jenna: what seems to be working for either candidates? what do you think is the sticking point for either one, their strengths in the state of florida? >> well, romney has based a lot of his campaign on the economy, and the economy continually shows up to be a major concern, and people aren't satisfied with the economy, and generally that reflects on the incumbent, so that's probably romney's

strongest point. and the president, though, i mean, despite the economy the president has continued to poll even or slightly ahead of romney here, so, you know, it's hard to say how it's going to play out. jenna: let's talk a little bit about specific voting groups in florida, one being the jewish vote in florida. we're awaiting the prime minister of israel, netanyahu, to address the u.n. today. the state of israel, certainly, is in the top of the news. how has that affected the jewish vote if at all in the state of florida, and how important is that voting bloc for whoever wins there? >> sure. florida has the largest jewish population of any swing state, jewish voters here are maybe 5% or less of the electorate, but florida's had these historically close elections, so every year there's a big fight over the jewish vote. and jewish voters go overwhelmingly democratic, but republicans always hope to shave a few points off that in the hopes if it's a close election,

that could make a difference. obama got between 75 and 80% of the jewish vote four years ago. there was a poll recently that showed him getting 69 or 70% here. that would be instant many if you had another 537-vote election here like there was in 2000. jenna: we can't forget that, that's for sure. let's talk about the elderly as well. intoentitlements, medicare, medicaid, you have paul ryan with his plan, how do you think that's gone over with the elderly in florida? is there a general understanding of either candidate's perspective on entitlements and, again, which way does it seem to be playing right now? >> well, you know, seniors were the only group that voted for mccain in florida four years ago. i think obama carried every other age group. and then two years ago in the midterm elections seniors went heavily republican because of concerns about the medicare changes in the health care law. um, it's hard to say right now whether republicans are going to be able to maintain that

advantage that they had. there's certainly been a lot of criticism of the ryan plan. i haven't seen a lot of detailed numbers in the last week or so as far as how it's playing out. i know initially when he first named ryan, um, seniors were still more supportive of romney than obama in florida, but i don't know how that's trending in the last couple days of polls. jenna: it seems like that's where we're at with a lot of the battleground states, 40 days ahead of voting. george, thank you very much for your perspective. nice to have you with us. >> sure thing. thanks. jon: do the mainstream media have a favorite candidate? some conservatives are saying the media are trying to help president obama win a second term. we'll get into that. plus, what israel is saying now about keeping a red line in place to check iran's nuclear ambitions.

jon: well, some conservative leaders and media personalities now saying the public should switch off what they describe as the biased news media. they've signed a letter from the media research center claiming there has never been a more brazen attempt by the liberal news media to decide the outcome of an election. also writing, quote: to put it bluntly, you are rigging this election and taking sides in order to predetermine the outce. let's talk about it with angela mcglowan, a fox news political analyst, peter is former adviser to the clinton/gore campaign. peter, do they have a point? >> jon, i think we've been debating liberal bias in the media at least as far back as the lincoln/douglass debates. this is a tried and true accusation that comes out. the fact of the matter is the media covers the horse race, they cover the gaffes. unfortunately, the romney campaign has had more gaffes

lately. we can argue whether or not the campaign coverage has been substantive enough. i would agree that it probably hasn't. but the fact that, you know, this aspect of the campaign is being raised now shows a little bit of desperation. i think that, you know, then there's discussions about whether poll numbers are accurate or not. i mean, the fact is the romney campaign needs to stay on their message, and they haven't done that. jon: angela, he says there has been coverage of the gaffes, some would say if vice president biden makes a gaffe, it gets sort of swept under the carpet. if mitt romney says something, it's front page news. >> jon, my counterpart is right, this has been happening for a long time, but it's gotten worse lately. and where do you hear in the press that the president has only met with his jobs council once since january, that the president with the attacks in benghazi, he won't come out and say they were truly terrorist attacks. >> oh, he said that. >> he did not come out publicly

and hold a press conference in n saying that. let me finish, please peter, i did not interrupt you. where do you hear in the liberal mainstream media that the president's jobs bill where he says republicans are blocking him, that his own democrats voted down in the senate. and one last one that's a doozy, that harry reid has not put forth a budget in three years. so basically, journalists today that do biased reporting, they're actually doing themselves a disservice in their trade. i mean, this is an election year. people tune to the news to be informed. jon: we just got those gdp numbers out today, peter, 3.3% -- 1.3% growth in gdp in the most recent quarter. that's a horrible number. are the media reporting it? >> you know, jon, i mean, we can, you know, discuss it, it's a legitimate question, you know? and there, you know, the economy certainly has not been improving at the rate that we would all like to see it improve. and, you know, fdp numbers are sure -- gdp numbers are surely

an indicator. i want to go back to the coverage of the campaign, and it's very hard -- and you know in this on your network -- i mean, the campaigns move so fast, there are events going on all the time, it's very hard to take a step back and do these sort of analytical stories -- >> no, it isn't. >> are well, i would argue that it is. you watch the coverage of any network, and that is the case. and including the network we're on. look, at the end of the day what's going to happen is that both sides are going to try to exploit the gaffes of the other, and they're going to try to spin -- >> no, they're not. not true journalists. >> -- referee that. >> even the society of professional journalists' code of ethics say that you're supposed to distinguish between advocacy and true journalism news reporting. and the best journalists when you read their story or you hear their reporting and you can't tell what party they're affiliated with. that's the sign of a good journalist. >> i would agree with that. i disagree with the premise that this has been a widespread

phenomenon. i think it's a tried and ru accusation that comes out every now and then about the liberal bias in the media. george w. bush did not have a friendly media, and the last time i checked, he was elected twice. so i don't think it's impacted this campaign. the romney campaign is their own worst enemy. >> today it's worse than ever before where people are blatantly out to protect this president and not give true reporting. >> well, that's a real suggestion of analysis, that's suggestive analysis, and you're entitled to your -- >> i gave you examples. >> a couple of them are false. the fact that the president did not have a press conference to announce the fact that this was a terrorist attack does not mean he didn't announce it. >> [inaudible] >> he said it publicly. jon: but it has been uncovered by our bret baier just today that the administration within the first 24, maybe 48 hours knew that the benghazi attack was a terrorist attack, and yet

susan rice, the ambassador to the united nations -- >> right. jon: -- was out on the sunday shows four or five days after the attack -- >> saying that it budget. >> right. jon, frankly, i don't know enough about the sequence of events to comment on that. >> but, peter -- >> i think the fact that the administration probably was trying to be more careful than respond to the news cycle. that's my -- >> that's not true, peter. is it not true dealing with harry reid and the budget, is it not true dealing with the president and the jobs council? >> i think the republicans in the -- >> no, answer that. jon: we are -- >> i didn't want say it wasn't true. i just said the republicans and democrats have fought on the hill, and reid and mcconnell have both done things. jon: we are going to let the viewers decide for themselves. you guys argued it pretty well. peter, angela, thank you both. >> thank you. jenna: high stakes at the united nations today. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu set to make his case against a nuclear rapp.

we're going to have a preview of what to expect and why this speech is so significant. plus, a big scare when a school bus, packed with kids, slams into power lines. the rescue to get them to safety and the investigation into how this all happened. [ mother ] you can't leave the table till you finish your vegetables. [ clock ticking ] [ male announcer ] there's a better way... v8 v-fusion. vegetable nutrition they need, fruit taste they love. could've had a v8... starts with ground beef, unions, and peppers baked in a ketchup glaze with savory gravy and mashed russet potatoes. what makes stouffer's meatloaf best of all? that moment you enjoy it at home. stouffer's. let's fix dinner.

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we love to travel -- and there's so much more to see. so we found a plan that can travel with us. anywhere in the country. [ male announcer ] join the millions of people who have already enrolled in the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp, an organization serving the needs of people 50 and over for generations. remember, all medicare supplement insurance plans help cover what medicare doesn't pay. and could save you thousands a year in out-of-pocket costs. call now to request your free decision guide. and learn more about the kinds of plans that will be here for you now -- and down the road. i have a lifetime of experience. so i know how important that is. jenna: quick fox news alert on the economy now. campbell's soup, you know that name the world's largest soup maker. the company behind the can that is an american eye can

is slashing hundreds of jobs. they just announced today they're planning to lay off more than 700 people, closing one plant in california and another plant in new jersey the company says the move is intended to cut costs. we heard that from a whole host of companies before. cap campbell soup employs nearly 20,000 people around the world. jon: and new numbers out today offering a mixed picture for the health of our economy. the labor department reporting 359,000 americans filed for unemployment benefit last week. that is a two-month low and a drop of 26,000 from the week before. it comes as the overall economy showed sluggish growth in the second quarter, expanding by just 1.3% and falling short of analyst expectations. let's bring in fox business network's robert gray. so, robert, there is good news and bad news i guess. let's start with the good news. fewer people joining the unemployment line. >> reporter: that is definitely the case there, jon. you look at it, 359,000 is

the lowest level since july reversing a trend for weekly claims. that is the most real time look we can get at labor market. we've seen the trend moving higher since july. you see it on the screen. estimate was for 378,000. much better. keep in mind the prior week was revised up. that trend has been happening for a year. four-week average smooth things out also dropping down as well but still historically high for a economic recovery this far out of the recession. we see 2.16 million folks on extended benefits of unemployment. that came down 1900 ahead of next week's big monthly jobs report for month of september. the estimate is 120,000 jobs added. last month very disappointing, just 96,000 were added in august. jon: that gdp number, way lower than everybody seemed to expect. what is behind that? >> reporter: we were expecting to stay unchanged at 1.7%.

this is the third and final reading of gdp for the second quarter. basically the culprit? lower spending by consumers which drives the economy and by corporations. businesses were spending less. household purchases up one 1/2% in annual pace in the quarter. that is the slowest in a year. people tightening the purse strings. corporate spending was revised down to 3.6% as well for increase of about the 3.6%, jon. it had been 4.2% in the prior estimate. bank of america, merrill lynch actually out with a research note i got saying today's durable goods orders, a separate report showing a huge drop last month, down 15%, will cut third quarter gdp, the current quarter as well. we see 1.2%, last quarter of the year, jon, they see 1% even. calling for another soft patch in the economy as we round out the year. jon: not good when the bar graphs are going down like stairsteps. >> reporter: not a good trend. >> robert gray from fox business network. jenna: fox news alert.

israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu set to address the u.n. general assembly very shortly. he is set to define a firm red line for iran and its nuclear program to remind the world why a nuclear armed iran is unacceptable not just to israel but to everybody. netanyahu is addressing the u.n. a day after iran's president mahmoud ahmadinejad had his turn. the leader of iran says his nation is under constant threat of military action from israel. >> translator: continueded military threat from uncivilized zionists against our great nation is a clear example of this bitter reality. jenna: fred stevens is foreign affairs columnist for "the wall street journal" we've talked a lot about these red lines. everyone seems to have a red line and apparently we'll hear what israel's red line is . what do you expect from netanyahu today? >> that is a good question. some of your viewers will be shocked to hear i haven't been shown an advanced copy of the speech but very

active and quite public debate between the israeli government and the obama administration as to exactly where a red line should be drawn and one of the areas of contention between the two governments is whether it should be drawn at the level of a nuclear weapons capability which is what the israelies are saying, or an actual nuclear weapon. the israeli argument by the time iran gets to a capability we'll never know for sure and won't be able to preempt their move from capability to weapon. jenna: so who's red line is the most appropriate if you will for the safety and security of the world? >> well look, from an israeli perspective their ability to stop iran from going nuclear is much more limited than our ability here in the united states. so it to some extent these differences are a function of the military capabilities of both countries. that said you know the lesson from iraq, the lesson from past intelligence failures is that you never have exact intelligence, jenna, about just when a nation, how close or how far

a adversary is from a nuclear weapon. i think from the point of view the united states we shouldn't put so much faith in our ability to know exactly when iran will cross the nuclear threshold. the last thing we want to do is wake up surprised to learn that they crossed it with a nuclear test the morning before. jenna: we certainly reported those shifting time lines and those shifting percentages and as far as uranium enrichment as far as how close iran is to a nuclear weapon. i was reviewing netanyahu's speech from last year. why is this different? why is this speech anymore important than the speech last year? a sense of deja vu, iran saying incendiary things, israel responding is something we're used for years. what makes today different? >> it is that classic line deja vu all over again. listening to the clip ahmadinejad i wonder why the

word chutzpah is not a iriranian world. he is constandly calling for israel to be wiped off the map. iran has enriched about 200 pound uranium to 20% level which is very close to nuclear bomb grade. while we've been talking the iranian centrifuges have been spinning. we get consistent reports from the international atomic energy agency just how close the iranians are to crossing that nuclear capability threshold. jenna: one of the things we'll apparently hear from netanyahu as well again what it means for the world a nuclear iran. we have to give back on north korea, bret, right? there were sanctions for north korea and we were told they were working and one day we woke up there is video of north korea testing what we believe is a nuclear weapon of the sew do we see that pattern repeating itself? what changes in the world if we wake up that day and that is the reality? >> remember the context of

2006 north korean test. george w. bush as president saying nuclear north korea would be unacceptable, tough guy republican president. yet within a matter of months or less than a year after iran, excuse me north korea tested its nuclear weapon the bush administration was parlaying and negotiating with north korea and taking them off the terror list. that is the history that the iranians are very mindful of. they're thinking moment they get a nuclear weapon for all of our talking unacceptable their diplomatic position is that much stronger. jenna: real quick here, bret, as we await the speech what are you watching for? what are the keys you're paying attention to? >> i would be, the question now is, net yaw lou is talking to or three audiences. there is the global audience and iranian audience and having a public conversation with the obama administration. the rhetoric between the two side has been pretty heated and not kept in private. the question whether bebe netanyahu will try to placate the administration

or set a clear, distinctive israeli line of his own. jenna: we'll watch for that. as always thank you for your insights. we appreciate it. we'll await the speech as well. thank you. >> thanks. jon: right now we are awaiting a news conference from the head of the nfl, roger goodell, the commissioner. he will be signaling touchdown when it comes to negotiations with the league referees. they have been locked out as you know over some contract issues. it appears they have those resolved. they have a tentative agreement in place. he will talk about it at that podium you see on your screen. when he does so we'll take you back there live. we are also awaiting israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. he is about to address the u.n. general assembly. the israeli leader expected to deliver a hard-line message on iran as jenna was just discussing with bret. will this speech make a difference? plus a busload of kids tangled in live electrical wires, trapping them inside. the rescue, just ahead.

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responsibility. what's your policy? jon: right now investigators are trying to find out what caused a bus, a school bus full of kids to slam into a live power pole bringing wires down onto the bus. rick folbaum is on the breaking news desk. >> reporter: now how kids like to end a school day right, jon? thankfully everybody is okay. there was one broken ankle but it could have been worse. the bus pulled out of a school parking lot when it hit a electrical pole. live power lines were left draped over the bus, not good. thankfully the driver was smart enough to know to keep kids inside the bus and call for help. >> we wanted to keep them on the because it hit the power poll and lines came down over the top of the bus. as soon as we got pudget sound energy out here to make sure there was no power on those lines we were able to off-load kids onto another bus. >> reporter: apparently turning off the power was

trickier than you think. took workers hour and a half to do it while a crowd of anxious parents stood around and watched. then kids were led off one at a time through the emergency door you see right there on the side of the bus. a little excitement. maybe kids should get their own snippet of that wire to take in for show-and-tell. that would be a good idea. jon: i would not have wanted to be one of the parents. i'm sure you would not either. >> reporter: not a chance. >> rick folbaum, thanks. jenna: a battle overstates rights heating up that could have big impact on energy issues and as well as the presidential election. we'll have a live report just ahead i just want to give her everything. [ whistles ] three words dad, e-trade financial consultants. they'll hook you up with a solid plan. wa-- wa-- wait a minute; bobby? bobby! what are you doing man?

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jon: right now we are still waiting for benjamin netanyahu, the israeli prime minister to take the podium at the united nations. they have gone a little bit out of order.

he was supposed to be up there about now but the leader of cape verde, the island chain off africa, is speaking now. when benjamin netanyahu speaks, you will likely want to hear it. expected to come down hard on iran. we will also be hearing later today from mahmoud abbas, the president of the palestinian faction, palestinian authority, i should say. we will hear from him as well. two big speeches coming up today at the united nations we'll have them for you here on fox. jenna: they don't have commercial breaks like us they have to hit. when they get up there --. jon: they like to command the podium. jenna: as long as they want. plans to power america with american resources of the governor mitt romney is rolling out what some are describing a bold proposal and reigniting a decades old debate who exactly controls public land. is it the states or federal government? alicia acuna is live in denver with more on that. >> reporter: jenna, yes this is particularly sensitive issue in this part of the

country where the energy potential underground is great but the fight to protect what's above it is fierce. >> that means we produce all the energy we use in north america. >> reporter: one of the primary components of mitt romney's energy plan is reigniting a decades old debate who controls access to mineral resources on federal lands. >> i'm going to have the states take responsibility for the permitting process on federal lands. [applause] >> governor romney's energy proposal is backward-looking. it ignores the facts and it is a giveaway to his big oil campaign supporters at the expense of our air, land and water. >> reporter: the governor's plan is especially significant in the american west where most of the nation's public lands exist along with much of its untapped oil, gas and mineral resources. >> it has gotten to the point on federal lands at times it takes six, seven, eight years to get a permit. that is too much incertainty for industry. >> it is bad for the climate. >> reporter: he says the u.s. has a strong 100 year

history of federal agencies maintaining multiple uses that include energy production. >> we foe that our public lands means so much more than just energy production. they're a huge driver of our economy, for tourism and for recreation. there are huge jobs creators. >> the amount of impact that we're talking about on federal lands is a postage stamp on the united states. it is very, very little impact. so it is not either or question. >> reporter: and to bolster their arguments, both sides, jenna, refer to former president theodore roosevelt as his expansion of federally controlled land for more efficient uses of natural resources. jenna. jenna: an interesting debate we'll watch this campaign season. thank you. jon: just a few blocks away from our manhattan newsroom, still awaiting the news conference from roger goodell, the commissioner of the national football league, the guy who signs all the footballs and the guy who is about to announce that the

refs are going to be back in business tonight. the professional referees who have been locked out for the first three games of this season. they are coming back. there is a tentative deal that has professional refs. never has a nation been so happy to see football referees on the job. we'll have it for you live. jenna: well-put, jon. a coworker brings in some homemade treats. in this case they were brownies. jon: sound good. jenna: irresistable, right? jon would be all over it. some bus drivers got more than the sweet treat they bargained for. let's say these brownies had a few special ingredients. jon: uh-oh. jenna: what happened next? we'll tell you. ♪ i'd do anything for you, dear ♪ ♪ anything, yes, i'd do anything ♪ ♪ anything for you ♪

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srpgpp@peve lately.ncer ] and try aleve but because of business people like you, things are beginning to get rolling. and regions is here to help. making it easier with the expertise and service to keep those wheels turning. from business loans to cash management, we want to be your partner moving forward. so switch to regions. and let's get going. together. jon: mahmoud abbas, the president of the palestinian authority is speaking now in front of the united nations, expected to ask that body for nonmember observer status. let's listen in.

>> translator: the occupying powers persisted with their settlements focusing on jerusalem and -- [inaudible] it is a campaign clearly and deliberately aimed at at allering the city's historic character and glorious image of the holy city etched in the minds of mankind. it is a campaign of ethnic cleansing of the palestinian people via the dem legs of their -- demolition of their homes and prevent ever construction and revocation of residency rights and denial of services especially with regard to schools, closing of institutions and impoverishment of jerusalem's community via a siege behind walls and checkpoints choking the city and preventing millions of palestinians from freely accessing its schools, churches, schools,